SC rejects JIT report in Arshad sharif case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the report of the Special Joint Investigation Team (JIT) appointed to investigate the death of veteran journalist Arshad Sharif on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the JIT report was submitted to the CJP’s Chamber. The report offers information about the investigation conducted in Kenya and United Arab Emirates.

Last Monday, the team returned to Pakistan after concluding its investigation in Kenya and the United Arab Emirates.

Hearing the matter, a five-member panel led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial rejected the special JIT report, calling it a story of “failures” exclusively.

CJP inquired why Kenya ceased ‘cooperating’ with Pakistan in the Arshad Sharif murder case during today’s hearing. “The Foreign Office should investigate and brief the state on the subject,” CJP Bandial said.

According to CJP Justice Umar Ata Bandial, there are two essential components in the Arshad Sharif murder case: local and foreign. The chief justice also directed the JIT chief and the extra solicitor general to investigate who leaked the case’s fact-finding report.

The JIT chief informed the SC bench that the Kenyan authorities had not turned over Arshad Sharif’s iPhone and iPad to them and that the JIT had found no evidence to make any decision in the matter.

Kenyan authorities, according to the extra solicitor general, have completed their investigation into the two cops arrested in the Arshad Sharif murder case.

The report has been forwarded to the public prosecutor for further investigation.

While rejecting the JIT findings, the SC requested assistance from the UN. “How much time is required to seek UN assistance?” the CJP inquired of the Foreign Office’s delegate.

The FO spokesperson said that he could not give an exact timing because the topic is about cooperation between the two countries.

Later, the Supreme Court deferred the hearing on Arshad Sharif’s murder case until the first week of March, giving the Foreign Office a month to decide when to seek UN assistance.

It should be mentioned that the Supreme Court ordered a special JIT to visit Kenya and the UAE to investigate the murder of Arshad Sharif.

On October 23, a senior journalist was assassinated in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was living in self-exile.

On December 8, the federal government constituted a new special joint investigative team (JIT) with the Supreme Court to investigate the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif (SC).

Members of the new JIT include ISI, IB, FIA, and Islamabad police. DIG Intelligence Branch Sajid Kiyani, FIA’s Waqarauddin Syed, DIG Headquarters Owais Ahmed, Military Intelligence Murtaza Afzal, and ISI Muhammad Aslam are among the members.